Buyside Focus - career path Archives

The typical hedge fund career path begins 1 – 2 years post-college. Unlike large banks or asset management firms with comprehensive training programs, hedge funds are small, nimble operations with few resources to teach someone analytical finance from the ground up. Getting into a hedge fund straight out of college is difficult.

Today we continue the conversation with our investment industry veteran, who began telling us the story of investment banking to the buy side. In Part 2 here, we’ll talk about what it’s like to work at a mutual fund vs. hedge fund. Working at a mutual fund vs. hedge fund has a lot of similarities on the surface. After all, it’s all about investing!

However, as we dig deeper into the comparison, we’ll see that there’s are significant differences in the lifestyle, nature of work, compensation structure, and career trajectory. Some of the answers might surprise you.

Without further ado, let’s get right down to it and continue our conversation. If you haven’t read the first half of the conversation, I recommend you start with Part 1 here.

If you have your mind set on a hedge fund career, you probably started thinking about your career paths very early on – either in college or shortly after you graduated. You are highly motivated to have a successful hedge fund career and armed with a concrete plan to put yourself in the best position to get to the buy side. You keep your resume up-to-date, debate taking the CFA and/or get an MBA, and proactively get in touch with recruiters…